The term over-the-top (OTT) service refers to a service from a third-party that a user of a network accesses via the network. These OTT services ride on top of the services that the user gets from the network operator, and have no business or technology affiliation with the network operator. For example, long distance telephone service is an OTT service for a user who obtains their long distance telephone service from a company that offers the long distance telephone service over a telephone network operated by another telephone company. Similarly, internet search engines and social networks are OTT services that provide value to the users of a network, but that are not owned or managed by the traditional network carriers.
Adaptive streaming is a process that adjusts the quality of a video stream based on changing network conditions to ensure the best possible viewing experience. Internet connection speeds vary widely, and the speed of each type of connection also varies depending on a wide variety of conditions. If a user connects to an Internet Service Provider (ISP) at 56 Kbps, that does not mean that 56 Kbps is available at all times. Bandwidth can vary, meaning that a 56 Kbps connection may decrease or increase based on current network conditions, causing video quality to fluctuate as well. Adaptive streaming adjusts the bitrate of the video to adapt to changing network conditions. Adaptive streaming includes hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) live streaming (HLS), Smooth Streaming, WebM, and Motion Pictures Experts Group (MPEG) Dynamic Adaptive Streaming over HTTP (DASH). Adaptive streaming has many advantages for on-demand video playback and live events because it can reduce bandwidth expense and improve user experience by optimizing video quality based on network conditions.
In Scalable Video Coding (SVC), as well as JPEG2000 and Motion JPEG2000, the bitstream is scalable in multi-dimensions such as resolution (size), bitrate (quality), position, color-component and frame-rate (temporal scalability). As opposed to adaptive streaming, there is only one bitstream in a scalable coding scheme from which the right portions of interest can be extracted and processed further. In video content delivery systems, such as those that utilize adaptive streaming, and scalable coding, it is important to pre-buffer the media stream in such a way that a rich-media experience is provided to the user. The pre-buffering will allow the user to experience smooth trick-plays, granular random access, and use of the most suitable version of the bit stream for the network bandwidth, while also optimizing the buffer usage.
There is a need for a video content client device that intelligently pre-buffers at access points in an adaptive or scalable stream to optimize trick-play support. The presently disclosed invention satisfies this demand.